Logos All The Way

The opposition to the Stamp Act caught the Georges—III and Grenville—off guard. Why? Because the law was so very logical. There was a problem and here was a solution.

That problem? England's debt was ballooning out of control after the Seven Years War. That solution? A new tax to pay that bill and raise some extra security.

Totally logical. What it forgot about was pathos. The colonists weren't used to paying taxes. Whether or not that's entirely fair is up for debate. On one hand, they were benefitting from programs funded by taxes, but on the other they had no say in what could be taxes. The point is, they weren't paying.

To make matters worse, England had already solved the problems they were asking to be paid for. First, there was the matter of the debt. That was over a war that was finished and Britain won. Asking to be paid for a service already rendered never goes over well.

Secondly, the British wanted to add more troops for security. Against who? The colonists wanted to know. They were already used to fighting the Native Americans without help from the crown. And as for the French? They were more or less gone with the end of the Seven Years War.

But while it looks patently obvious to us that this tax isn't going to go over well, the British didn't see it that way. The colonies were part of the empire, and the whole point of colonies is to enrich that empire. As soon as the colonies were costing more than they were bringing in, something had to be done to balance the ledger.

The solution? The Stamp Act.